“At the beginning they approached the screen with defensive or threatening gestures, there was interaction,” said Gabriela Linhartova, ape keeper at Dvur Kralove, 135km east of Prague.
“It has since moved into the mode of 'I am in the movies' or 'I am watching TV'. When they see some tense situations, it gets them up off the couch, like us when we watch a live sport event.”
The chimpanzees have also adopted other human behaviours such as grabbing goodies like nuts to chew on while watching the action.
The video conferences, also aired on the safari park's website, will run daily from 8am until 4pm until the end of March when keepers will evaluate whether they should continue.
Zoom you later.